harley



J. L. HARLEY.

IBAGGAGE-SEALS.

Patented June 13, 1876.

[lure ntor:

INJEI'ERS. PHOTO-LITHDGRAFH ER, WASHINGTON. B C- 'NITED STATES PATENT Futon- JOSEPH L. HARLEY, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT INBAGGAGE-SEALS- Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 178,766, dated June 13, 1876; application filed January 14, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JosEPH L. HARLEY, of WVashington, in the District of Columbia, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Baggage-Seals; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this application.

The nature of this invention consists in making a seal, for sealing baggage and other cars, of a flexible metallic strip of sheet-brass or other suitable metal, widened at one of its ends, and provided with an elongated hole transversely in the same, to admit the passage of its opposite end, to form a loop in which the staple of the car or other object to be socured is held. The free end of the metal strip or band is then held in its proper place by being inserted through a slot formed in a disk or ball of soft metal, and temporarily held in position by slightly twisting the T- shaped end beforethe disk is compressed upon the strip by a proper die to firmly hold the two together, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

To enable those skilled in the art to more fully understand the construction and advantages of my improved seal I will proceed to describe the same, referring to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation, and Fig. 2 a vertical section, of my improved seal, both figures also illustrating the use of a tag or label in connection therewith.

A in each of the figures represents a strip of flexible metal widened at its end a, and provided with the elongated hole or slot b. 0 is a ball or disk of soft metal cast with an aperture, 0, extending through thesame to re ceive the end a of the metal strip, which is inserted through the slot 0. The band A is also provided with a hole, a, in order that as the disk is compressed it will fill up the space formed by the hole a and thereby form, as it were, a solid piece of metal, and thus make it impossible to detach the end a from the disk without cutting the same. The lower extremity of the strip A terminates in a .T shape, so thatwhen passed through the slot in the disk the T may be slightly twisted transverse to the slot in the disk to hold the latter'in position, and keep it from dropping off previous to being compressed, thus facilitating the attachment of the parts.

D represents a tag or label, which usually has written or stamped thereon the number of the car. It is provided at or near both its ends with holes d cl made wide enough to allow the insertion and passage of the end a of the metal band A, and is also provided at its lower end with a lip or extension, d, which has a hole, 01 to correspond with the hole a in the band A. The band A being passed over or through any object to be secured in customary manner, its end a is inserted through the hole I), (and if the tag D is used. the end a is then drawn through the holes d thereof,) and is then inserted with the lip d of the tag in the aperture formed in the disk G, so that the T-shaped portion of the end a will project below the disk when it is twisted, as before explained. The disk G is then either pressed or stamped in customary manner, the effect of which is to compress the metal through the holes a d and thus firmly secure the vsame, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, the T- shaped end serving as a double security against the withdrawal of the band form the disk.

As seals have been constructed heretofore both ends of the strip of metal or other material are brought together and fastened by .means of the soft-metal disk; but it has been found that seals constructed in this manner are objectionable, as they can be readily removed and replaced without detection by simply cutting one of the ends of the band of metal close up to the disk and removing it from the staple, and then returning it to its place, and the weight of the disk will be held suspended by the remaining uncut end of the metal band. i

It will be seen that this objection is obviated in a seal constructed as I have described, Where only one end of the metal band'is employed to suspend the disk.

Whatjl claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The metal band A, formed with aholeat its lower end, and provided at its upper end with a slot transverse to its length, whereby a loop may be formed at one end, and a soft- Witness my hand and seal this 6thdayof metal disk'secured to the other, substantially December, 1875.

as and for the purposes specified.

2. The flat metal strip, having its opposite ends pierced to form a loop, and be held by the soft-metal disk, provided also at its lower extremity with a transverse T-shaped extension, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

JOS. L. HARLEY. [L. s.]

Witnesses:

WM. 0. MGINTIRE, ARTHUR L. MCINTIRE. 

